Indoor over the air antenna systems

ABSTRACT

Described are systems and methods for providing improved indoor reception of OTA (Over-the-Air) broadcast signals. The systems described include antenna systems with one or more network interfaces for providing a transport stream received by an antenna to a network.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/200,792, filed on Jul. 1, 2016, entitled “Indoor Over The Air AntennaSystems,” which application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/330,714, filed on May 2, 2016, whichapplications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety forall purposes.

FIELD

This application relates generally to reception of radio frequencybroadcasts. More particularly, this application relates to methods forreceiving digital over-the-air television and radio broadcasts andrelated antenna systems.

BACKGROUND

Reliable OTA (Over the Air) DTV (Digital TV) reception poses manyproblems even on the best day. There are a number of variables thataffect reception and not all are under the control of the consumer.Problems span the range of weak signal coverage, to diverse locations ofthe TV transmission towers, to limitations affecting optimal location ofthe receiving antenna.

A little known fact that accompanied the DTV OTA transition in 2009 wasthat the FCC published a set of planning factors that set importantassumptions on the consumers receiving capability.

However, in very few instances does the consumer's reception device(s)provide the level of performance assumed by these planning factors.Generally, these conditions will only be met with an outdoor antenna,mounted at the highest point of a single family home and by using anantenna with relatively high gain. The FCC planning factors clearlypointed to a Yagi-Uda (aka Yagi) antenna, originally developed in the1950s and still in existence today, as the preferred method to receivedigital OTA signals for the majority of US consumers.

Generally, installing an outdoor OTA antenna is not an average consumerdo-it-yourself (DIY) project. Specialized tools and techniques arerequired that are not readily available. Achieving an end result of areliable set of signal within margin can only be determined byspecialized radio frequency (RF) test equipment and the knowledge to usethem. These facts coupled with a general negative feeling that a Yagiantenna on the roof is unattractive, discourages most consumers frommeeting some critical technical metrics outlined in the planningfactors.

The limitations and perceptions associated with outdoor OTA antennashave led to a paradigm shift to indoor antennas. There is a wide varietyof indoor antenna form factors with many attempting to emulate a dipolein one or more planes. Some are also Omni-directional or attempt orpurport to be. While some consumers have success with indoor antennas,many more do not.

SUMMARY

Described herein are systems and methods for providing improved indoorreception of OTA (Over-the-Air) broadcast signals. The systems describedinclude antenna systems with one or more network interfaces forproviding a transport stream received by an antenna to a network. Thesystems described also include receiver systems, such as cable orsatellite TV receiver systems, that make use of antenna systems with oneor more network interfaces for providing a transport stream received byan antenna to a network.

In a first aspect, provided are systems for receiving one or moreover-the-air broadcast signals. In one embodiment, a system forreceiving over-the-air broadcast signals comprises a plurality ofantenna panels for receiving over-the-air broadcast signals; one or moredigital tuners in electronically switchable communication with each ofthe plurality of antenna panels, the one or more digital tuners forreceiving over-the-air broadcast signals and converting receivedover-the-air broadcast signals to digital transport streams; and anetwork interface in data communication with the one or more digitaltuners, the network interface for transmitting a network transportstream over a network connection, wherein the network transport streamincludes at least a portion of the digital transport streams.

Optionally, systems of this aspect function as, are disguised as, or areotherwise incorporated into a piece of furniture or a home furnishing,such as a lamp, lampshade, picture frame, bookshelf, consumer appliance,etc. Optionally, the plurality of antenna panels comprise or areattached to structural elements of the piece of furniture or homefurnishing. Optionally, a system of this aspect further comprises alight socket for receiving a light bulb, such as where the plurality ofantenna panels are arranged adjacent to or surrounding the light socket.Optionally, the plurality of antenna panels, the one or more digitaltuners, and the network interface are located in a modular lampshade,such as a modular lampshade that includes a connector for inserting intoa light socket. For example, in some embodiments, connector providespower from the light socket to the one or more digital tuners and thenetwork interface, such as by way of an AC to DC adapter. Optionally, amodular lampshade includes a socket for receiving a light bulb.

A variety of antennas are useful with the systems described herein. Forexample, in some embodiments, each of the plurality of antenna panelshave different absolute orientations. Optionally, two or more of theplurality of antenna panels have different shapes. Optionally, one ormore of the plurality of antenna panels comprise a dipole antenna.Optionally, two or more or more of the plurality of antenna panels havedifferent polarization diversities. Useful antennas include, but are notlimited to a planar antenna, a directional antenna, an omni-directionalantenna, an amplified antenna, and any combination of these.

In some embodiments, other hardware is included in the systems of thisaspect in addition to those elements described above. For example, insome embodiments, a system of this aspect further comprises amultiplexer in communication with the one or more digital tuners, suchas a multiplexer that generates a network transport stream using one ormore digital transport streams. Optionally, in some embodiment, a systemof this aspect further comprises a digital storage device in datacommunication with the one or more digital tuners, such as a digitalstorage device for storing at least a portion of a digital transportstream.

Optionally, systems of this aspect include network interfaces selectedfrom the group consisting of a WiFi interface, an Ethernet interface, apowerline network interface, and any combination of these. In someembodiments, the network interface is a powerline network interface, thesystem is incorporated into a lamp, and the lamp and the powerlinenetwork interface share a power connection.

Optionally, systems of this aspect comprise two or more digital tuners,such as where at least one of the digital tuners is for periodic oraperiodic scanning of each of a plurality of over-the-air broadcastsignals using each of the plurality of antenna panels. The periodic oraperiodic scanning may be used in the creation, population, or updatingof a table of over-the-air broadcast channels or radio frequencies andidentifiers of a best or selected antenna for use in receiving a digitalbroadcast on the channel or radio frequency.

Optionally, systems of this aspect may comprise one or more processorsin data communication with at least one of the one or more digitaltuners and the network interface; and a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium in data communication with the one or more processors. Insome embodiments, the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumcomprises instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform operationsincluding identifying a first antenna panel from the plurality ofantenna panels for use in receiving a first over-the-air broadcastsignal; receiving the first over-the-air broadcast signal using thefirst antenna panel and a first digital tuner of the one or more digitaltuners; converting, using the first digital tuner, the received firstover-the-air broadcast signal to a first digital transport streamincluding a first digital audio stream or a first digital video stream;and transmitting a network transport stream over a network connection,such as a network transport stream that includes at least a portion ofthe first digital transport stream. Optionally, receiving the networktransport stream at a network device facilitates displaying at least oneof the first digital audio stream and the first digital video stream.

Optionally, the instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform any method ormethods described herein.

In another aspect, methods are provided. In some embodiments, a methodof this aspect may correspond to a method for receiving one or moreover-the-air broadcast signals. In a specific embodiment, a method ofthis aspect comprises identifying a first antenna panel from a pluralityof antenna panels for use in receiving a first over-the-air broadcastsignal; receiving the first over-the-air broadcast signal using thefirst antenna panel and a first digital tuner; converting, using thefirst digital tuner, the received first over-the-air broadcast signal toa first digital transport stream including a first digital audio streamor a first digital video stream; and transmitting a network transportstream over a network connection, such as a network transport streamthat includes at least a portion of the first digital transport stream.Optionally, receiving the network transport stream at a network devicefacilitates displaying at least one of the first digital audio streamand the first digital video stream.

Optionally, a method of this aspect further comprises identifying asecond antenna panel of the plurality of antenna panels for use inreceiving a second over-the-air broadcast signal; receiving the secondover-the-air broadcast signal using the second antenna panel and asecond digital tuner; and converting, using the second digital tuner,the received second over-the-air broadcast signal to a second digitaltransport stream including a second digital audio stream or a seconddigital video stream. Optionally, methods of this aspect may furthercomprise transmitting a second network transport stream over the networkconnection, wherein the second network transport stream includes atleast a portion of the second digital transport stream, and whereinreceiving the second network transport stream at a second network devicefacilitates displaying at least one of the second digital audio streamand the second digital video stream. Optionally, methods of this aspectmay further comprise multiplexing at least a portion of the firstdigital transport stream and at least a portion of the second digitaltransport stream to form the network transport stream, wherein receivingthe network transport stream at the network device facilitatesdisplaying at least one of the first digital audio stream, the firstdigital video stream, the second digital audio stream, and the seconddigital video stream.

As described above, various antennas and antenna configurations may beused by the methods and systems described herein. In embodiments, amethod of this aspect further comprises switchably establishing aconnection between the first antenna panel and the first digital tuner.Optionally, methods of this aspect may further comprise filtering thereceived over-the-air broadcast signal, amplifying the receivedover-the-air broadcast signal, or both filtering and amplifying thereceived over-the-air broadcast signal.

As described above, a list, database, or other table may be used inselection of a particular antenna or antenna panel for use in receivinga particular over-the-air broadcast signal. For example, in someembodiments, identifying the first antenna panel from the plurality ofantenna panels includes: compiling a list that identifies a plurality ofover-the-air broadcast signals and which of the plurality of antennapanels to use for receiving each of the plurality of over-the-airbroadcast signals; and identifying the first antennal panel for use inreceiving the first over-the-air broadcast signal using the list.Optionally, compiling the list includes: scanning, by a second digitaltuner, each of a plurality of over-the-air broadcast signals using eachof the plurality of antenna panels; and identifying a reception metricfor each of the plurality of over-the-air broadcast signals and each ofthe plurality of antennas. Optionally, methods of this aspect mayfurther comprise updating the list one or more times by scanning, by asecond digital tuner, each of a plurality of over-the-air broadcastsignals using each of the plurality of antenna panels; and identifying areception metric for each of the plurality of over-the-air broadcastsignals and each of the plurality of antennas. Optionally, the listcomprises a look-up table and wherein identifying comprises looking upthe first over-the-air broadcast signal in the look-up table.Optionally, methods of this aspect may further comprise receiving, froma television receiver, a query for the list; and transmitting the listto the television receiver.

In exemplary embodiments, the plurality of antenna panels and the firstdigital tuner are components of a system for receiving over-the-airbroadcast signals. For example, the system for receiving over-the-airbroadcast signals described above may be used. In one specificembodiment, for example, a system for receiving over-the-air broadcastsignals comprises the plurality of antenna panels for receivingover-the-air broadcast signals; one or more digital tuners inelectronically switchable communication with each of the plurality ofantenna panels, the one or more digital tuners for receivingover-the-air broadcast signals and converting received over-the-airbroadcast signals to digital transport streams; and a network interfacein data communication with the one or more digital tuners, the networkinterface for transmitting a network transport stream over a networkconnection, wherein the network transport stream includes at least aportion of the digital transport streams.

In another aspect, television receivers are provided. In someembodiments, a television receiver comprises: one or more processors; anaudio-video output connection in data communication with the one or moreprocessors; a network interface in data communication with the one ormore processors; and a non-transitory computer readable storage mediumin data communication with the one or more processors, thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructionsthat, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform operations including: generating a first videosignal for displaying a receiver interface using the audio-video outputconnection; receiving a command to obtain, using the network interface,a network transport stream from a system for receiving over-the-airbroadcast signals, such as a system for receiving over-the-air broadcastsignals that comprises: a plurality of antenna panels for receivingover-the-air broadcast signals; one or more digital tuners inelectronically switchable communication with each of the plurality ofantenna panels, the one or more digital tuners for receivingover-the-air broadcast signals and converting received over-the-airbroadcast signals to digital transport streams; and a network interfacein data communication with the one or more digital tuners, the networkinterface for transmitting a network transport stream over a networkconnection, wherein the network transport stream includes at least aportion of the digital transport streams; transmitting a query using thenetwork interface, such as a query that includes a request for thenetwork transport stream; receiving the network transport stream usingthe network interface; and generating a second video signal fordisplaying video corresponding to the network transport stream using theaudio-video output connection.

In embodiments, the operations further include: transmitting a secondquery using the network interface, such as a second query that includesa request for reception metrics for at least a portion of the pluralityof antenna panels for each of the plurality of over-the-air broadcastsignals; receiving the reception metrics; and generating a third videosignal for displaying the reception metrics using the audio-video outputconnection.

Optionally, the system for receiving over-the-air broadcast signalscomprises any such system described herein.

Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, there can bediscussion herein of beliefs or understandings of underlying principlesrelating to the invention. It is recognized that regardless of theultimate correctness of any mechanistic explanation or hypothesis, anembodiment of the invention can nonetheless be operative and useful.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of variousembodiments may be realized by reference to the following figures. Inthe appended figures, similar components or features may have the samereference label. Further, various components of the same type may bedistinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a satellite television distributionsystem.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a terrestrial broadcast televisionsystem.

FIG. 3 provides a schematic illustration of a system for receivingover-the-air broadcast signals, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 provides schematic illustrations of a system for receivingover-the-air broadcast signals, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 provides a block diagram of components of a system for receivingover-the-air broadcast signals, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, FIG. 6C, and FIG. 6D provide schematic illustrationsof a system for receiving over-the-air broadcast signals, in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 7 provides a schematic illustration depicting use of a system forreceiving over-the-air broadcast signals, in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 8 provides an overview of a method for operating a system forreceiving over-the-air broadcast signals, in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 9 provides a block diagram illustration of a television receiverthat uses a system for receiving over-the-air broadcast signals, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 10 provides a schematic illustration of aspects of a televisionreceiver that uses a system for receiving over-the-air broadcastsignals, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 11 provides an overview of a method for operating a televisionreceiver that uses a system for receiving over-the-air broadcastsignals, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 12 provides a block diagram of an example computing device, inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Using OTA DTV indoor antennas introduces a host of new potentialreception inhibiting factors, not anticipated in the planning for DTVcoverage and reception. Most notable of these conditions are: 1) aweaker signal due to attenuation (loss) through a buildings outsidewalls, and 2) uncontrolled bouncing of signals within the room where theindoor antenna would be located.

The effect of loss is a reduction in the TV station's coverage areaand/or reduced margin for acceptable reception under normal variationsof a transmitted RF signal; i.e., rain or foliage. The effect ofbouncing signals is a condition known as multipath, where the samedesired signal may enter the antenna from different paths and corruptor, in extremes, cancel one another for that channel. Multipath is thesame condition known as “ghosting” in the context of analog broadcasttelevision. A digital television (DTV) signal does not ghost, but thesame distortion mechanism results in degraded signal conditions thatlimit or inhibit reception. Multipath is a variable of many factors andnearly impossible to predict or correct when it is severe. Other signaldegradation aspects may need to be taken into consideration, includingmoving obstructions in an environment that may absorb a signal or maycontribute to multipath, such as a human body.

Advanced antenna and receiver design techniques may be applied toovercome some of the limitations of indoor OTA antenna's but there maybe undesirable factors associated with both.

Indoor OTA Antenna Limitations: Most suppliers of indoor OTA antennasfor DTV reception strongly recommend that the antenna be placed at awindow location as high as possible within the home. This is not alwayspossible nor is it practical if the home does not have a window facingthe general direction of the TV broadcast towers. The more the antennais moved from quasi line of sight orientation the more the effects ofmultipath come into play. Since, in many situations, the central TVviewing location is on the first floor of a home, placing the indoor OTAantenna in a second floor window and cabling to the primary TV locationis a nonstarter, aesthetically or practically.

The second condition that happens in indoor OTA antenna is the inabilityto receive all the available broadcast TV stations in that market. Thiscondition may be caused by a number of factors, but a common complaintis having to move the antenna around the room to receive a particular TVstation that could not be received from another location in the sameroom. This may be an effect of multipath. Usually, a compromise locationmust be selected that still leaves one or more desired TV stations notavailable on that TV.

Technology Solutions: There are two technical solutions described hereinto improve reception probability for digital OTA TV broadcasts. Onetechnique uses what is referred to as smart antennas and the other usesone or more diversity reception techniques. Certain diversity receptiontechniques use some of the same decision making capabilities used insmart antennas. In many respects, the smart antennas derive from basicdiversity theory; however, this discussion will exploit a fewfundamental differences to make the respective points to compare the twomethods.

Smart Antennas: Smart antennas obtain their “smarts” by using specificparametric feedback from the DTV tuner and/or demodulator(s) to selectthe best antenna element or antenna sector to deliver the requested TVsignal on a per channel basis.

Usually a smart antenna requires some communications between the hostdevice, such as a set top box, and the antenna. Various communicationsschemes have been used and proposed, the most notable being CEA-909B,which was an initiative of the CEA from 2007-2010. This protocol allowedfor controlling up to 64 antenna elements as well as control ofpre-amplifier gain on a per channel basis. Unfortunately, there was notwide adoption of CEA-909B by either the ATSC demodulator IC providers orTV manufacturers.

Diversity Antennas: Diversity reception is similar to basic smartantenna technology, with the differences being that there is not aspecific control protocol and that it does not provide for controlfeedback from the antenna. The most simple diversity technique is“Switched Diversity.” In this technique, two or more antenna elementsare used. The elements may be scanned automatically or manually and thereceived signals are monitored for some signal quality metric.

The receiver may store a table including channel identifiers vs. bestantenna element to assist and speed up the subsequent channel changingrequests. The receiver may periodically re-scan as a background task tocheck for changing reception conditions. This may be an automaticprocess and/or a manual process initiated by the consumer. An additionaland/or non-user accessible tuner module may be included in a receiversystem to implement a channel scan for continuously, periodically, oraperiodically updating a channel/antenna table.

Some embodiments use switched diversity and a total of four or moreseparate antenna elements. The elements may be arranged generally with90 degree separation from one another, for example. To visualize this,one element is looking North and the other three are looking East,South, and West respectively, for example. In simple terms, this allowsOTA TV reception from all four compass points, each consideredoptimally. Optionally, the antenna elements are arranged with opposingor different polarization senses or plane orientations in order toachieve polarization diversity among the antenna elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a satellite television distributionsystem 100. Satellite television distribution system 100 may include:television service provider system 110, satellite transmitter equipment120-1 and 120-2 (collectively, satellite transmitter equipment 120),satellites 130-1 and 130-2 (collectively, satellites 130), satellitedish 140, receiver 150, and television 160. Alternate embodiments ofsatellite television distribution system 100 may include fewer orgreater numbers of components. While only one satellite dish 140,receiver 150, and television 160 (collectively referred to as “userequipment”) are illustrated, it will be appreciated that multiple (e.g.,tens, thousands, millions) instances of user equipment may receivetelevision signals from satellites 130. For example, a particular personmay have user equipment at multiple homes or other locations.

Television service provider system 110 and satellite transmitterequipment 120 may be operated by a television service provider. Atelevision service provider may distribute television channels,on-demand programming, programming information, and/or other services toviewers. Television service provider system 110 may receive feeds of oneor more television channels from various sources, such as contentprovider system 111. Content provider system 111 may provide televisionprograms, advertisements, and other forms of content. For example,content provider system 111 may be a television network, such as ESPN®.To distribute such television channels to users, feeds of the televisionchannels may be relayed to user equipment via one or more satellites viatransponder streams. Satellite transmitter equipment 120 may be used totransmit a feed of one or more television channels from televisionservice provider system 110 to one or more satellites 130. Suchsatellite feeds may be unidirectional—user equipment may not be able totransmit information back to television service provider system 110 viasatellites 130. While a single television service provider system 110and two satellite transmitter equipment 120 are illustrated as part ofsatellite television distribution system 100, it should be understoodthat multiple instances of transmitter equipment may be used, possiblyscattered geographically to communicate with satellites 130. Suchmultiple instances of satellite transmitting equipment may communicatewith the same or with different satellites. Different televisionchannels and content may be transmitted to satellites 130 from differentinstances of transmitting equipment. For instance, a different satellitedish of transmitting equipment 120 may be used for communication withsatellites in different orbital slots.

Satellites 130 may be configured to receive signals, such as streams oftelevision channels, from one or more satellite uplinks, such as fromsatellite transmitter equipment 120. Satellites 130 may relay receivedsignals from satellite transmitter equipment 120 (and/or other satellitetransmitter equipment) to multiple instances of user equipment viatransponder streams. Different frequencies may be used for uplinksignals 170-1 and 170-2 (collectively, uplink signals 170) from downlinksignals 180-1 and 180-2 (collectively, downlink signals 180). Satellites130 may be in geosynchronous orbit. Each satellite 130 may be in adifferent orbital slot, such that the signal path between eachsatellite, uplink stations, and user equipment vary. Multiple satellites130 may be used to relay television channels from television serviceprovider system 110 to satellite dish 140. Different television channelsmay be carried using different satellites. Different television channelsmay also be carried using different transponders of the same satellite;thus, such television channels may be transmitted at differentfrequencies and/or different frequency ranges. As an example, a firstand second television channel may be carried on a first transponder ofsatellite 130-1. A third, fourth, and fifth television channel may becarried using a different satellite or a different transponder of thesame satellite relaying the transponder stream at a different frequency.A transponder stream transmitted by a particular transponder of aparticular satellite may include a finite number of television channels,such as seven. Accordingly, if many television channels are to be madeavailable for viewing and recording, multiple transponder streams may benecessary to transmit all of the television channels to the instances ofuser equipment.

Satellite dish 140 may be a piece of user equipment that is used toreceive transponder streams from one or more satellites, such assatellites 130. Satellite dish 140 may be provided to a user for use ona subscription basis to receive television channels provided by thetelevision service provider system 110, satellite uplink 120, and/orsatellites 130. Satellite dish 140 may be configured to receivetransponder streams from multiple satellites and/or multipletransponders of the same satellite. Satellite dish 140 may be configuredto receive television channels via transponder streams on multiplefrequencies. Based on the characteristics of receiver 150 and/orsatellite dish 140, it may only be possible to capture transponderstreams from a limited number of transponders concurrently. For example,a tuner of receiver 150 may only be able to tune to a single transponderstream from a transponder of a single satellite at a time.

In communication with satellite dish 140, may be one or more sets ofreceiving equipment. Receiving equipment may be configured to decodesignals received from satellites 130 via satellite dish 140 for displayon a display or presentation device, such as television 160. Receivingequipment may be incorporated as part of a television or may be part ofa separate device, commonly referred to as a set-top box (STB).Receiving equipment may include a satellite tuner configured to receivetelevision channels via a satellite. In FIG. 1, receiving equipment ispresent in the form of receiver 150, which may be a STB. Alternatively,receiver 150 may be integrated directly into television 160. Receiver150 may thus decode signals received via satellite dish 140 and providean output to television 160. FIG. 9 provides additional detail ofreceiving equipment.

Television 160 may be used to present video and/or audio decoded byreceiver 150. Receiver 150 may also output a display of one or moreinterfaces to television 160, such as an electronic programming guide(EPG). In some embodiments, a display device other than a television maybe used. Optionally, receiver 150 may include hardware or components forreceiving broadcast television channels and may, for example, includeaspects of receiver 250 depicted in FIG. 2.

Uplink signal 170-1 represents a signal between satellite uplink 120-1and satellite 130-1. Uplink signal 170-2 represents a signal betweensatellite uplink 120-2 and satellite 130-2. Each of uplink signals 170may contain streams of one or more different television channels. Forexample, uplink signal 170-1 may contain a certain group of televisionchannels, while uplink signal 170-2 contains a different grouping oftelevision channels. Each of these television channels may be scrambledsuch that unauthorized persons are prevented from accessing thetelevision channels.

Transponder stream 180-1 represents a signal between satellite 130-1 andsatellite dish 140. Transponder stream 180-2 represents a signal pathbetween satellite 130-2 and satellite dish 140. Each of transponderstreams 180 may contain one or more different television channels in theform of transponder streams, which may be at least partially scrambled.For example, transponder stream 180-1 may include a first transponderstream containing a first group of television channels, whiletransponder stream 180-2 may include a second transponder streamcontaining a different group of television channels. A satellite maytransmit multiple transponder streams to user equipment. For example, atypical satellite may relay 32 transponder streams via correspondingtransponders to user equipment. Further, spot beams are possible. Forexample, a satellite may be able to transmit a transponder stream to aparticular geographic region (e.g., to distribute local televisionchannels to the relevant market). Different television channels may betransmitted using the same frequency of the transponder stream to adifferent geographic region.

FIG. 1 illustrates transponder stream 180-1 and transponder stream 180-2being received by satellite dish 140. For a first group of televisionchannels, satellite dish 140 may receive a transponder stream oftransponder stream 180-1; for a second group of channels, a transponderstream of transponder stream 180-2 may be received. Receiver 150 maydecode the received transponder stream. As such, depending on whichtelevision channel(s) are desired, a transponder stream from a differentsatellite (or a different transponder of the same satellite) may beaccessed and decoded by receiver 150. Further, while two satellites arepresent in satellite television distribution system 100, in otherembodiments greater or fewer numbers of satellites may be present forreceiving and transmitting transponder streams to user equipment.

Network 190 may serve as a secondary communication channel betweentelevision service provider system 110 and receiver 150. Via such asecondary communication channel, bidirectional exchange of data mayoccur. As such, data may be transmitted to television service providersystem 110 via network 190. The connection between network 190 andreceiver 150 is illustrated as dotted since this connection allowingcommunications from receiver 150 to be sent to television serviceprovider system 110 may not be available (e.g., receiver 150 may nothave such communication capabilities, receiver 150 may have suchcapabilities but may not be connected with network 190). For example,even if a receiver is capable of communicating using network 190,communication using network 190 may require that the user has an activeaccount with an internet service provider. Accordingly, some receiversmay only be able to receive data from satellites 130 via receivingequipment, such as satellite dish 140. In other situations, while a usermay have an active ISP account, such as via a fiber, cable, or DSLinternet connection, equipment failure may occur. For instance, a routerthrough which receiver 150 connects to network 190 may fail or be inneed of resetting. Network 190 may be or include the Internet.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a satellite-based television channeldistribution system. It should be understood that at least some of theaspects of the satellite-based television channel distribution systemmay be similar to a cable television distribution system. For example,in a cable television system, rather than using satellite transponders,multiple RF channels on a coaxial cable may be used to transmit streamsof television channels. Alternatively or additionally, digital data maybe transmitted across fiber optic cables. As such, aspects detailedherein may be applicable to cable television distribution systems. Otherforms of television distribution networks include broadcast over-the-airsystems and IP-based distribution systems.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a terrestrial broadcast televisionsystem 200. Broadcast television system 200 may include elements similarto satellite television broadcast distribution system 100, and mayinclude: broadcast television provider system 210-1 and 210-2(collectively, broadcast television provider system 210), transmitterequipment 220-1 and 220-2 (collectively, transmitter equipment 220),antenna 240, receiver 250, and television 260. Transmitter equipment 220may include one or more broadcast antennas for transmitting radiofrequency broadcasts. Receiver 250 may include one or more tuner devicesfor receiving and decoding broadcast signals received at antenna 240.Alternate embodiments of broadcast television system 200 may includefewer or greater numbers of components. While only one antenna 240,receiver 250, and television 260 (collectively referred to as “userequipment”) are illustrated, it will be appreciated that multiple (e.g.,tens, thousands, millions) instances of user equipment may receive thebroadcasted television signals from transmitter equipment 220.

Broadcast television provider system 210 and transmitter equipment 220may be operated by a broadcast television service provider. A broadcasttelevision service provider may distribute television channels usingradio frequency broadcasts. Broadcast television service provider system210 may receive feeds of one or more television channels from varioussources, such as a content provider system. A content provider systemmay provide television programs, advertisements, and other forms ofcontent. For example, content provider system may be a televisionnetwork, such as ABC®. To distribute such television channels to users,feeds of the television channels may be relayed to user equipment viaone or more transmitters via broadcast digital transport streams.Transmitter equipment 220 may be used to transmit a feed of one or moretelevision channels from television service provider system 210 forreception by an antenna 240. Such broadcasts are generallyunidirectional—user equipment may not be able to transmit informationback to television service provider system 210 via antenna 240. Althoughtwo broadcast television provider systems 210 and two transmitterequipment 220 are illustrated as part of broadcast television system200, it should be understood that one or more instances of transmitterequipment may be used, possibly scattered geographically. In addition,independent broadcast networks may use their own set of one or moretransmitter equipment and systems for broadcasting different televisionchannels.

Antenna 240 may be configured to receive signals, such as streams oftelevision channels, from one or more transmitter equipment 220.Broadcast signals 280-1 and 280-2 are depicted as being transmitted fromtransmitter equipment 220-1 and 220-2, but it will be appreciated thattransmitter equipment 220 generally broadcasts streams of televisionchannels over large areas for reception by any appropriate antenna fordisplaying the broadcast television channel streams without regard towhether any other antennas are receiving the broadcast signals.

In addition, different television channels may be carried on a singlebroadcast signal 280 using digital subchannels. As an example, a firsttelevision channel may be carried on a first digital subchannel ofbroadcast signal 280 and a second television channel may be carried on asecond digital subchannel of broadcast signal 280. In this way, abroadcast television provider may simultaneously broadcast multipletelevision channel streams using a single transmitter equipment 220 forsimultaneous reception by a single antenna 240 and receiver 250.

Antenna 240 may be a piece of user equipment that is used to receivebroadcast digital transport streams from one or more transmitters, suchas transmitter equipment 220. Antenna 240 may be installed by a user ata suitable point for reception of broadcast signals 280. Antenna 240 maybe an omnidirectional antenna, a directional antenna, an amplifiedantenna, a planar antenna, etc., depending on the configuration. Basedon the characteristics of receiver 250 and/or antenna 240, it may onlybe possible to capture broadcast digital transport streams from alimited number of transmitter equipment concurrently. For example, atuner of receiver 250 may only be able to tune to a single digitaltransport stream on a single radio frequency at a time. Receiver 250,however, may include multiple tuners to overcome this limitation.

Receiver 250 may be configured to decode signals received fromtransmitter equipment 220 via antenna 240 for display on a display orpresentation device, such as television 260. Receiver 250 may beincorporated as part of a television or may be part of a separatedevice, such as a set-top box (STB). Receiver 250 may include tunerconfigured to receive broadcast television signals. Receiver 250 maythus decode signals received via antenna 240 and provide an output totelevision 260. FIGS. 7 and 9 provides additional detail of a receiver.

Television 260 may be used to present video and/or audio decoded byreceiver 250. Receiver 250 may also output a display of one or moreinterfaces to television 260, such as an electronic programming guide(EPG). In some embodiments, a display device other than a television maybe used. Optionally, receiver 250 may include hardware or components forreceiving satellite television channels and may, for example, includeaspects of receiver 150 depicted in FIG. 1.

Broadcast signal 280-1 represents a signal between transmitter equipment220-1 and antenna 240. Broadcast signal 280-2 represents a signal pathbetween transmitter equipment 220-2 and antenna 240. Each of broadcastsignals 280 may contain one or more different television channels in theform of digital transport streams. For example, broadcast signal 280-1may include a first digital transport stream containing a first group oftelevision channels, while broadcast signal 280-2 may include a seconddigital transport stream containing a different group of televisionchannels. Transmitter equipment 220 may transmit multiple digitaltransport streams to user equipment. For example, a typical transmitterequipment may relay a digital transport stream including one or moretelevision channels in the form of a multiplexed transport stream.

FIG. 3 depicts a schematic illustration of an exemplary over-the-air(OTA) tuner system, also referred to herein as a system for receivingover-the-air broadcast signals. OTA tuner system 300 includes fourseparate antenna elements 310 arranged around a lamp containing a singlelight bulb 320. For purposes of illustration, a light socket is notshown in FIG. 3 to simplify depiction of the other features of the OTAtuner system 300. It will be appreciated that various configurationsembodying the OTA tuner system concept may be used. Accompanyinghardware elements, such as one or more tuners/demodulators, switchmatrix, amplifiers controllers, network interfaces, processors, etc.,may be included in the OTA tuner system 300, such as housed in the base330. In some embodiments, the antennas and any accompanying hardware maybe housed in a lampshade, which may allow the antenna system to beretrofit to an existing lamp or light fixture. In some embodiments, theantennas and any accompanying hardware may be housed in or attached to alight fixture.

Optionally, the light bulb 320 may be a light-emitting diode (LED) basedbulb. The use of LED bulb(s) may provide for a power saving andaesthetically pleasing design, though incandescent and fluorescent(e.g., compact fluorescent) bulbs may also be used. It will beappreciated that different types of bulbs may require differentshielding and/or signal protection for the antennas and any accompanyinghardware to reduce the electromagnetic emission from the bulb that maycause undesired interference.

Although embodiments described herein have been described with referenceto a light fixture, it will be appreciated that other configurations arepossible. For example, the antenna and associated hardware componentsmay be incorporated in appliances and other home furnishings, such aspicture frames, bookshelves, office furniture, etc., so that theantennas and associated hardware may be disguised and/or hidden fromview. Incorporation into a light fixture, however, may be useful, assome embodiments may naturally be placed in higher areas of a home oroffice that may receive stronger OTA transmission signals or mayencounter less interference and/or attenuation than if placed elsewherein a home or office.

FIG. 4 depicts a schematic illustration of another OTA tuner system 400embodiment shown with (right) and without (left) a lampshade. Thisembodiment includes a plurality of antennas 410 arranged in differentconfigurations around the light bulbs 420. For purposes of illustration,light sockets are not shown in FIG. 4 to simplify depiction of the otherfeatures of the OTA tuner system 400. A base 430 is included to supportthe antennas 410, as well as to house accompanying hardware elements,such as such as one or more tuners/demodulators, switch matrix,amplifiers controllers, network interfaces, processors, etc.

The antennas used in some embodiments may correspond to flexible antennapanels, though a variety of antenna configurations are useful with theaspects described herein. For example, useful antennas include, but arenot limited to, a planar antenna, a directional antenna, anomni-directional antenna, or an amplified antenna.

FIG. 5 provides a block diagram of an RF subsystem 500 of an OTA tunersystem, in accordance with some embodiments. It will be appreciated thatmore or fewer elements than depicted in FIG. 5 may be used in variousOTA tuner system embodiments. RF subsystem 500 includes a plurality ofantenna panels 510, which may be connected to a switch matrix andsplitter 520, such as by one or more amplifiers 530. A plurality oftuner/demodulators 540 are connected to switch matrix and splitter 520,which allows each tuner/demodulator 540 to independently connect to anyof the antenna panels 510. It will be appreciated that two or moretuner/demodulators 540 may simultaneously connect to one antenna panel510. As illustrated, four tuner/demodulators 540 allow forsimultaneously receiving four different OTA signals at four differentbroadcast frequencies using any of the four antenna panels 510. A fifthtuner/demodulator 540 allows for continuous scanning of frequenciesusing the different antenna panels 510 in order to keep a table ofchannels and channel characteristics updated. This may allow forcontinuous updating of a list of best antennas to use for particularchannels.

The RF subsystem 500 of FIG. 5 optionally allows the transport streamsreceived from each of the different tuners to be multiplexed in anycombination and transmitted over a network using transport streammultiplexer 550 and WiFi Radio 560 or G.hn interface 570. It will beappreciated that G.hn interface 570 may allow for network communicationsover one or more wired systems, such as a powerline or telephone linesystem. It will also be appreciated that other network interfaces may beused in place of WiFi Radio 560 and/or G.hn interface 570, such as anEthernet interface or HomePlug interface. Use of powerline interfaces,such as G.hn or HomePlug may be particularly advantageous, for someembodiments, as these interfaces may not require a separate connectionto a network, may share an AC line power connection with the lightsocket and use the shared connection to transmit the transport streamsover a powerline network. Various controllers and system microprocessorsmay also be included in the RF subsystem 500.

Optionally, one or more WiFi antennas for one or more WiFi Radios may beincluded in the OTA tuner system, such as WiFi antennas optimized forreceiving and/or transmitting wireless network signals, such as in a 2.4GHz or 5 GHz band. For example, the WiFi antenna(s) may be incorporatedinto an OTA tuner system as a separate antenna component or integratedinto one or more antenna panels.

As described with reference to FIGS. 6A-6D, power for the RF subsystemmay be obtained, in some embodiments, using a power connection thatscrews into a light socket on a lamp or light fixture, for example.Optionally, power for the RF subsystem may be obtained using a powerconnection shared between a light fixture and the RF subsystem. In thisway, only a single AC power connection may need to be established withthe OTA tuner system for both a light bulb and the RF subsystem. In someembodiments, the system may include a light socket or other connectionfor attaching a light bulb or light emitting device, such as an LEDarray.

Various embodiments may also incorporate storage subsystems to allow RFsubsystem 500 to function as a digital video recorder (DVR) system.Advantageously, multiple tuners in the antenna system may simultaneouslyand independently tune a single channel using different antennas in thesystem, which may be useful when signal loss is encountered when using asingle antenna and tuner. In some embodiments, multiple video signalsindependently received by different tuners using different antennas maybe used to stitch together a single uninterrupted video stream.

In embodiments, RF subsystem 500 is incorporated into an OTA receiversystem. Optionally, RF subsystem 500 is incorporated into a cable orsatellite television receiver. In this way, the cable or satellitetelevision receiver may serve a dual function of receiving bothcable/satellite broadcasts as well as OTA broadcasts. Further, such aconfiguration may allow the cable or satellite television receiver toserve cable, satellite and/or OTA to other devices over a network, suchas a wired or wireless network.

FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, FIG. 6C, and FIG. 6D provide schematic illustrationsof a modular or retrofit OTA tuner system 600 embodiment. In FIG. 6A, alamp 605, which includes a light socket 610, and a lampshade 615 areillustrated. Lampshade 615 may include components of RF subsystem 500depicted in FIG. 5. The lampshade 615 may be a separate component fromlamp 605, which may allow an OTA tuner system to be added to anyexisting lamp or light fixture. Lampshade 615 may include elements of atraditional lampshade, such as a diffusive covering(s).

FIG. 6B illustrates lampshade 615 with the diffusive covering(s)removed, and shows an included socket adapter 620, housing 625, andlight socket 630. Socket adapter 620 allows for connection to the lightsocket 610 of lamp 605 to obtain electric power for the RF subsystem ofOTA tuner system 600. Housing 625 includes, for example, components ofRF subsystem 500 depicted in FIG. 5. It will be appreciated thatalthough housing 625 is illustrated as positioned between socket adapter620 and light socket 630, other configurations are possible, such aswhere housing 625 is positioned at the lampshade 615 or above lightsocket 630. Further, it will be appreciated that light socket 630 is anexample light bulb connector only and that other configurations arepossible, such as where light socket 630 is a plug-in socket, ratherthan a screw-in socket, or where light socket 630 provides a DCconnection to a light bulb or lamp, such as an LED, incandescent, orfluorescent bulb.

FIGS. 6C and 6D provide designs for example antenna panels 635, whichmay be included in lampshade 615. The antenna panels 635 may be orientedin different configurations or have different polarization diversity toallow for more robust reception of broadcast signals. Each antenna panel635 may be in independent switchable communication with one or moretuners included in housing 625 to allow each tuner to make use of anyone of antenna panels 635 for receiving a particular broadcast signal.

It will be appreciated that although four antenna panels 635 areillustrated in the OTA tuner system 600 of FIG. 6, more or fewerantennas may be included in the OTA tuner systems described herein. Forexample, in various embodiments, the OTA tuner system may include 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or more antennas, each having orientation orpolarization diversity characteristics independent of the otherantennas.

FIG. 7 provides a schematic illustration of the use of an OTA tunersystem 705 in a broadcast signal reception environment 700. Environment700 includes OTA tuner system 705, which receives broadcast signal 710.OTA tuner system 705 may include, for example, aspects of OTA tunersystem 300, OTA tuner system 400, RF subsystem 500, or OTA tuner system600 depicted with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 6C, and 6D.

OTA tuner system 705 is illustrated as positioned on a top floor ofenvironment 700, which may allow for better reception of broadcastsignal 710 than if OTA tuner system 705 was positioned on a middle orlower floor of environment 700. OTA tuner system 705 plugs into outlet715, which may provide either or both a power connection and a powerlinenetwork connection (e.g., G.hn or Homeplug) for OTA tuner system 705.OTA tuner system 705 also connects to network port 720, which mayprovide a wired network connection between OTA tuner system 705 and awired network. OTA tuner system 705 is also depicted as transmitting awireless network signal 725, such as a WiFi signal, which may provide awireless network connection between OTA tuner system 705 and a wirelessnetwork. Other network connections may be implemented, including mixedwired/wireless/powerline networks.

On a middle floor of environment 700, a television 730 is shownconnected to a receiver 735. Receiver 735 may represent receiver 150 orreceiver 250 of FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively. Receiver 735 may furtherincorporate aspects of television receiver 900 described below withreference to FIG. 9. Receiver 735 connects to outlet 740, which mayprovide for network connectivity between receiver 735 and OTA tunersystem 705, such as by way of a G.hn or Homeplug powerline networkconnection. OTA tuner system 705 may relay digital transport streamscomprising received television channels in broadcast signal 710 toreceiver 735 for display on television 730.

On a lower floor of environment 700, a television 745 is shown.Television 745 may include aspects of receiver 150 or receiver 250 ofFIGS. 1 and 2, respectively. Television 745 may further incorporateaspects of television receiver 900 described below with reference toFIG. 9. Television 745 connects to network port 750, which may providefor network connectivity between television 745 and OTA tuner system705, wired network connection. OTA tuner system 705 may relay digitaltransport streams comprising received television channels in broadcastsignal 710 to television 745 for display. It will be appreciated thatwhile televisions 730 and 745 are depicted as displaying the sameprogram (a baseball game broadcast), in embodiments, each receiversystem may receive different transport streams from OTA tuner system 705and so display different programs.

FIG. 7 also depicts a tablet computer 755 on a lower floor ofenvironment 700. Tablet computer 755 may include aspects of receiver150, receiver 250, or television receiver 900, for example, and mayreceive, via wireless signal 760, a transport stream including areceived television channel. Here, the transport stream received bytablet computer 755 includes a basketball game broadcast, which isdifferent from the programs received by television 745 and receiver 735.Optionally, the tablet computer 755 includes an application fortransmitting commands to OTA tuner system 705 for controlling OTA tunersystem 705. For example, such an application may include a network OTAantenna module for implementation of various functionality into tabletcomputer 755 related to OTA tuner system 705. For example, the networkOTA antenna module may allow for control over OTA tuner system 705, suchas to request and obtain particular television channels, control tuningcharacteristics of digital tuners included in OTA tuner system 705, etc.The network OTA antenna module may further control and store userpreferences relating to OTA channel reception and viewing.

FIG. 8 provides an overview of an exemplary method 800 for operating anOTA tuner system of some embodiments. At block 805, the method includesidentifying an antenna for use in receiving an over-the air broadcastsignal. Identification of the antenna may include determining theantenna that has the best reception characteristics for a particularbroadcast, such as by performing a look-up in a look-up table, such as alook-up table that maps various broadcast frequencies to one of aplurality of antennas. Assembling the look-up table may include scanningeach of various broadcast frequencies and receiving signals at each of aplurality of antennas, identifying reception metrics for each of theantenna/frequency pairings and selecting a best reception metric andassociated antenna for a particular frequency.

At block 810, a connection between the identified antenna and a digitaltuner is established. It will be appreciated that the connection may bemade using a switch matrix/splitter, for example. Although the presentdisclosure refers to reception of digital OTA broadcast televisionsignals, it will be appreciated that the systems and methods disclosedherein may also apply to reception of digital OTA broadcast radio(audio) signals, also known as HD-Radio. It will also be appreciatedthat the systems and methods disclosed herein may also apply to analogOTA broadcast television and radio (audio) signals.

At block 815, the over-the-air broadcast signal is received, such as byusing the identified antenna, and converted to a digital transportstream, such as by using a digital tuner. The transport stream mayinclude a plurality of television channels, as described above, and onlya single channel may be desired for transmitting over a network to adisplay device, receiver, or storage device, such as a digital videorecorder (DVR).

At block 820, the digital transport stream is prepared for transmissionover a wired or wireless network. Preparation may includedemultiplexing, multiplexing, encoding, decoding, rate adaptation, andthe like in order to provide a suitable network stream for transmissionto a display device, receiver, or storage device. In some embodiments,multiple television channels received, such as using one or more tunersand one or more antennas may be combined into a single network transportstream.

At block 825, the prepared transport stream is transmitted over a wiredor wireless network for reception by a receiver, display by a displaydevice, or storage by a data store.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a television receiver 900 thatreceive and display video from a system for receiving over-the-airbroadcast signals. Embodiments of television receiver 900 may includeset top boxes (STBs). As previously noted, in addition to being in theform of a STB, a television receiver may be incorporated as part ofanother device, such as a television or other form of display device,such as a computer, smartphone, or tablet. For example, a television mayhave an integrated television receiver (which does not involve anexternal STB being coupled with the television).

Television receiver 900 may represent television receiver 150 of FIG. 1or receiver 250 of FIG. 2 and may be in the form of a STB thatcommunicates with a display device such as a television. Televisionreceiver 900 may be incorporated as part of a television, such asdisplay device 160 of FIG. 1 or display device 260 of FIG. 2. Televisionreceiver 900 may include: processors 910 (which may include controlprocessor 910-1, tuning management processor 910-2, and possiblyadditional processors), tuners 915, network interface 920,non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 925, electronicprogramming guide (EPG) database 930, networking information table (NIT)940, digital video recorder (DVR) database 945 (which may includeprovider-managed television programming storage and/or user-definedtelevision programming), on-demand programming 927, network OTA antennamodule 932, commercial database 946, user interface 950, over-the-airtuner system 251, which may be connected via network interface 920 andmay represent a system for receiving over-the-air broadcast signals,decryption device 960, decoder module 933, television interface 935,and/or descrambling engine 965. In other embodiments of televisionreceiver 900, fewer or greater numbers of components may be present. Itshould be understood that the various components of television receiver900 may be implemented using hardware, firmware, software, and/or somecombination thereof. Functionality of components may be combined; forexample, functions of descrambling engine 965 may be performed by tuningmanagement processor 910-2. Further, functionality of components may bespread among additional components; for example, PID filters 955 may behandled by separate hardware from program map table 957.

Processors 910 may include one or more specialized and/orgeneral-purpose processors configured to perform processes such astuning to a particular channel, accessing and displaying EPG informationfrom EPG database 930, and/or receiving and processing input from auser. For example, processors 910 may include one or more processorsdedicated to decoding video signals from a particular format, such asMPEG, for output and display on a television and for performingdecryption, if required. It should be understood that the functionsperformed by various modules of FIG. 9 may be performed using one ormore processors. As such, for example, functions of descrambling engine965 may be performed by control processor 910-1.

Control processor 910-1 may communicate with tuning management processor910-2. Control processor 910-1 may control the recording of televisionchannels based on timers stored in DVR database 945. Control processor910-1 may also provide commands to tuning management processor 910-2when recording of a television channel is to cease. In addition toproviding commands relating to the recording of television channels,control processor 910-1 may provide commands to tuning managementprocessor 910-2 that indicate television channels to be output todecoder module 933 for output to a display device. Control processor910-1 may also communicate with network interface 920 and user interface950. Control processor 910-1 may handle incoming data from networkinterface 920, including network transport streams received from OTAtuner system 951. Control processor 910-1 may handle incoming data fromnetwork interface 920, including network transport streams received fromuser interface 950, which may include user input received by way of oneor more human interface devices. Additionally, control processor 910-1may be configured to output data via network interface 920.

Tuners 915 may include one or more tuners used to tune to transpondersthat include broadcasts of one or more television channels that may bereceived from a satellite or cable system, for example. In theillustrated embodiment of television receiver 900, three tuners arepresent (tuner 915-1, tuner 915-2, and tuner 915-3). In otherembodiments, two or more than three tuners may be present, such as four,six, or eight tuners. Each tuner contained in tuners 915 may be capableof receiving and processing a single transponder stream from a satellitetransponder at a given time, for example. As such, a single tuner maytune to a single transponder stream at a given time. If tuners 915include multiple tuners, one tuner may be used to tune to a televisionchannel on a first transponder stream for display using a television,while another tuner may be used to tune to a television channel on asecond transponder for recording and viewing at some other time. Ifmultiple television channels transmitted on the same transponder streamare desired, a single tuner of tuners 915 may be used to receive thesignal containing the multiple television channels for presentationand/or recording. Tuners 915 may receive commands from tuning managementprocessor 910-2. Such commands may instruct tuners 915 which frequenciesare to be used for tuning.

Network interface 920 may be used to communicate via an alternatecommunication channel with a television service provider, if suchcommunication channel is available. The primary communication channelmay be via satellite (which may be unidirectional to television receiver900) and the alternate communication channel (which may bebidirectional) may be via a network, such as the Internet. Referringback to FIG. 1, receiver 150 may be able to communicate with televisionservice provider system 110 via a network, such as the Internet. Thiscommunication may be bidirectional: data may be transmitted fromreceiver 150 to television service provider system 110 and fromtelevision service provider system 110 to receiver 150. Referring backto FIG. 9, network interface 920 may be configured to communicate viaone or more networks, such as the Internet, to communicate withtelevision service provider system 110 of FIG. 1.

Other information may be transmitted and/or received via networkinterface 920. For example, commands may be transmitted to OTA tunersystem 951, such as commands to select from a plurality of antennas andto tune a tuner included in OTA tuner system 951 to a particularfrequency to receive a particular OTA broadcast on the particularfrequency. Network transport streams may also be received via networkinterface 920, such as from OTA tuner system 951. Receiving networktransport streams using network interface 920 may be advantageousbecause this configuration may allow OTA tuner system 951 to be placedat a remote location from the television receiver 900, which may allowfor better reception of OTA broadcast signals than may be available atthe location of television receiver 900. Further, the configuration mayallow OTA tuner system to provide one or more network transport streamsto one or more television receivers at the same or different times. Itwill be appreciated that OTA tuner system 951 may correspond to anexternal device separate from television receiver 900, such as the OTAtuner systems 300, 400, 600 described above.

Storage medium 925 may represent one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage mediums. Storage medium 925 may include memoryand/or a hard drive. Storage medium 925 may be used to store informationreceived from one or more satellites and/or information received vianetwork interface 920. Storage medium 925 may store information relatedto EPG database 930, network OTA antenna module 932 and relatedpreferences, other non-video/audio data 931, DVR database 945,commercial database 946, and/or on-demand programming 927. Recordedtelevision programs may be stored using storage medium 925 as part ofDVR database 945. Storage medium 925 may be partitioned or otherwisedivided (such as into folders) such that predefined amounts of storagemedium 925 are devoted to storage of television programs recorded due touser-defined timers and stored television programs recorded due toprovider-defined timers.

EPG database 930 may store information related to television channelsand the timing of programs appearing on such television channels. EPGdatabase 930 may be stored using storage medium 925, which may be a harddrive. Information from EPG database 930 may be used to inform users ofwhat television channels or programs are popular and/or providerecommendations to the user. Information from EPG database 930 mayprovide the user with a visual interface displayed by a television thatallows a user to browse and select television channels and/or televisionprograms for viewing and/or recording. Information used to populate EPGdatabase 930 may be received via network interface 920 and/or viasatellites, such as satellites 130 of FIG. 1 via tuners 915.Alternatively or additionally, information used to populate EPG database930 may be received via antennas, such as antenna 240 of FIG. 2. Forinstance, updates to EPG database 930 may be received periodically viasatellite or antenna. EPG database 930 may serve as an interface for auser to control DVR functions of television receiver 900, and/or toenable viewing and/or recording of multiple television channelssimultaneously.

Network OTA antenna module 932 (also referred to herein as a NOA module)may implement various functionality into television receiver 900 relatedto OTA tuner system 951. For example, network OTA antenna module 932,may allow for direct integration of television channels received by OTAtuner system 951 into an electronic program guide. Further network OTAantenna module 932 may allow for control over OTA tuner system 951, suchas to request and obtain particular television channels, control tuningcharacteristics of digital tuners included in OTA tuner system 951, etc.Network OTA antenna module 932 may further control and store userpreferences relating to OTA channel reception and viewing.

The network information table (NIT) 940 may store information used bytelevision receiver 900 to access various television channels. NIT 940may be stored locally by a processor, such as tuning managementprocessor 910-2 and/or by storage medium 925. Information used topopulate NIT 940 may be received via satellite (or cable) through tuners915, may be received via network interface 920, such as from thetelevision service provider, and/or via antenna or OTA tuner system 951.As such, information present in NIT 940 may be periodically updated. Insome embodiments, NIT 940 may be locally-stored by television receiver900 using storage medium 925. Generally, NIT 940 may store informationabout a service provider network, such as a satellite-based serviceprovider network. Information that may be present in NIT 940 mayinclude: television channel numbers, satellite identifiers (which may beused to ensure different satellites are tuned to for reception ofdesired television channels), frequency identifiers, transponderidentifiers for various television channels, antenna identifiers (whichmay be used to ensure different antennas are tuned to for reception ofdesired television channels), radio frequency identifiers, and/orsubchannel identifiers for various television channels. In someembodiments, NIT 940 may contain additional data or additional tablesmay be stored by the television receiver. For example, while specificaudio PIDs and video PIDs may not be present in NIT 940, a channelidentifier may be present within NIT 940 which may be used to look upthe audio PIDs and video PIDs in another table, such as a program maptable (PMT). In some embodiments, a PID associated with the data for thePMT is indicated in a separate table, program association table (PAT),which is not illustrated in FIG. 9. A PAT may be stored by thetelevision receiver in a similar manner to the NIT. For example, a PMTmay store information on audio PIDs, and/or video PIDs. A PMT storesdata on ECM (entitlement control message) PIDs for television channelsthat are transmitted on a transponder stream, transport stream, ordigital broadcast. If, for a first television channel, multipletelevision channels are to be tuned to, NIT 940 and/or PMT 957 mayindicate a second television channel that is to be tuned to when a firstchannel is tuned to; this may allow for switching to output of thesecond television channel for different commercials, for example.

A table, such as the NIT, PAT, or PMT may store indications of PIDs thatare related to supplemental audio content for individual channels orother forms of content. For instance, each television channel may beassociated with a different supplemental audio PID. If supplementalaudio content is to be transmitted for a given television channel,packets containing the supplemental audio are transmitted to thetelevision receiver having its associated supplemental audio contentPID. This PID could be distinct from any of the audio programs of thetelevision programming (e.g., the first audio program, second audioprogram (SAP)). In some embodiments, supplemental audio content istransmitted using the same transponder stream as the television channelor content to which the supplemental audio content corresponds. In someembodiments, a single supplemental audio PID is used to identifysupplemental audio for multiple television channels, such as all thetelevision channels on a given transponder. A second identifier presentwithin the supplemental audio data may be used to distinguish for whichtelevision channel the supplemental audio data corresponds.

Based on information in the NIT, it may be possible to determine theproper satellite and transponder to which to tune for a particulartelevision channel, or to determine the proper antenna and frequency towhich to tune to for a particular television channel. In someembodiments, the NIT may list a particular frequency to which to tunefor a particular television channel. Once tuned to the propersatellite/transponder/antenna/frequency, the PMT PID may be used toretrieve a program map table that indicates the PIDs for audio and videostreams of television channels transmitted by that transponder.

While a large portion of storage space of storage medium 925 may bedevoted to storage of television programming, a portion may be devotedto storage of non-audio/video data, such as EPG database 930 and othernon-video/audio data 931. This “other” data may permit televisionreceiver 900 to function properly. In some embodiments, at least tengigabytes are allocated to such other data. For example, if NIT 940 isstored by storage medium 925, it may be part of other non-video/audiodata 931.

Decoder module 933 may serve to convert encoded video and audio into aformat suitable for output to a display device. For instance, Decodermodule 933 may receive MPEG video and audio from storage medium 925,network interface 920, or descrambling engine 965 to be output to atelevision. MPEG video and audio from storage medium 924 may have beenrecorded to DVR database 945 as part of a previously-recorded televisionprogram. Decoder module 933 may convert the MPEG video and audio into aformat appropriate to be displayed by a television or other form ofdisplay device and audio into a format appropriate to be output fromspeakers, respectively. Decoder module 933 may have the ability toconvert a finite number of television channel streams received fromstorage medium 925, network interface 920 or descrambling engine 965simultaneously. For instance, each of decoders 934 within decoder module933 may be able to only decode a single television channel at a time.

While a television channel is being decoded by a decoder of decoders934, the television channel is not necessarily output to a displaydevice via television interface 935. For instance, a television channelmay be decoded but not output to allow for seamless or near-seamlessswitching to the television channel when output is desired. For example,if a second television channel is to be output for presentation duringcommercial breaks on a first television channel, the second televisionchannel and the first television channel may each be continuouslydecoded by different decoders of decoder module 933 to allow for fastswitching between the channels. Without a television channel beingcontinuously decoded, fast switching may be difficult due at least inpart to the format in which the channel is encoded. For instance, forMPEG encoding, it may be necessary to first decode an I-frame beforecertain subsequent (or earlier) received frames may be properly decoded.The output of the decoder, which is provided to television interface935, may be controlled by control processor 910-1 or some otherprocessor. While decoder module 933 is illustrated as having threedecoders 934 (decoder 934-1, decoder 934-2, and decoder 934-3), in otherembodiments, a greater or fewer number of decoders may be present intelevision receiver 900.

Television interface 935 may serve to output a signal to a television(or another form of display device) in a proper format for display ofvideo and playback of audio. As such, television interface 935 mayoutput one or more television channels, stored television programmingfrom storage medium 925 (e.g., television programs from DVR database945, television programs from on-demand programming 927 and/orinformation from EPG database 930) to a television for presentation.

Digital Video Recorder (DVR) functionality may permit a televisionchannel to be recorded for a period of time. DVR functionality oftelevision receiver 900 may be managed by control processor 910-1.Control processor 910-1 may coordinate the television channel, starttime, and stop time of when recording of a television channel is tooccur. DVR database 945 may store information related to the recordingof television channels. DVR database 945 may store timers that are usedby control processor 910-1 to determine when a television channel shouldbe tuned to and its programs recorded to DVR database 945 of storagemedium 925. In some embodiments, a limited amount of storage medium 925may be devoted to DVR database 945. Timers may be set by the televisionservice provider and/or one or more users of television receiver 900.

DVR database 945 may also be used to record recordings of serviceprovider-defined television channels. For each day, an array of filesmay be created. For example, based on provider-defined timers, a filemay be created for each recorded television channel for a day. Forexample, if four television channels are recorded from 6-10 PM on agiven day, four files may be created (one for each television channel).Within each file, one or more television programs may be present. Theservice provider may define the television channels, the dates, and thetime periods for which the television channels are recorded for theprovider-defined timers. The provider-defined timers may be transmittedto television receiver 900 via the television provider's network. Forexample, referring to satellite television distribution system 100 ofFIG. 1, in a satellite-based television service provider system, datanecessary to create the provider-defined timers at receiver 150 may bereceived via satellite.

As an example of DVR functionality of television receiver 900 being usedto record based on provider-defined timers, a television serviceprovider may configure television receiver 900 to record televisionprogramming on multiple, predefined television channels for a predefinedperiod of time, on predefined dates. For instance, a television serviceprovider may configure television receiver 900 such that televisionprogramming may be recorded from 7 to 10 PM on NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX oneach weeknight and from 6 to 10 PM on each weekend night on the samechannels. These channels may be transmitted as part of a singletransponder stream such that only a single tuner needs to be used toreceive the television channels. Packets for such television channelsmay be interspersed and may be received and recorded to a file. If atelevision program is selected for recording by a user and is alsospecified for recording by the television service provider, the userselection may serve as an indication to save the television program foran extended time (beyond the time which the predefined recording wouldotherwise be saved). Television programming recorded based onprovider-defined timers may be stored to a portion of storage medium 925for provider-managed television programming storage.

On-demand programming 927 may represent additional televisionprogramming stored by storage medium 925. On-demand programming 927 mayinclude television programming that was not recorded to storage medium925 via a timer (either user- or provider-defined). Rather, on-demandprogramming is programming provided to the television receiver directlyfor storage by the television receiver and for later presentation to oneor more users. On-demand programming 927 may not be user-selected. Assuch, the television programming stored to on-demand programming storage927 may be the same for each television receiver of a television serviceprovider.

User interface 950 may include a remote control (physically separatefrom television receiver 900) and/or one or more buttons on televisionreceiver 900 that allow a user to interact with television receiver 900.User interface 950 may be used to select a television channel forviewing, view information from EPG database 930, and/or program a timerstored to DVR database 945, wherein the timer is used to control the DVRfunctionality of control processor 910-1. User interface 950 may also beused to transmit commands to television receiver 900.

Referring back to tuners 915, television channels received via satellite(or cable) may contain at least some scrambled data. Packets of audioand video may be scrambled to prevent unauthorized users (e.g.,nonsubscribers) from receiving television programming without paying thetelevision service provider. When a tuner of tuners 915 is receivingdata from a particular transponder of a satellite, the transponderstream may be a series of data packets corresponding to multipletelevision channels. Each data packet may contain a packet identifier(PID), which, in combination with NIT 940 and/or PMT 957, may bedetermined to be associated with a particular television channel.Particular data packets, referred to as entitlement control messages(ECMs), may be periodically transmitted. ECMs may be associated withanother PID and may be encrypted; television receiver 900 may usedecryption device 960 to decrypt ECMs. Decryption of an ECM may only bepossible if the user has authorization to access the particulartelevision channel associated with the ECM. When an ECM is determined tocorrespond to a television channel being stored and/or displayed, theECM may be provided to decryption device 960 for decryption.

Decryption device 960 may be a removable or non-removable smart card.When decryption device 960 receives an encrypted ECM, decryption device960 may decrypt the ECM to obtain some number of control words. In someembodiments, from each ECM received by decryption device 960, twocontrol words are obtained. In some embodiments, when decryption device960 receives an ECM, it compares the ECM to the previously received ECM.If the two ECMs match, the second ECM is not decrypted because the samecontrol words would be obtained. In other embodiments, each ECM receivedby decryption device 960 is decrypted; however, if a second ECM matchesa first ECM, the outputted control words will match; thus, effectively,the second ECM does not affect the control words output by decryptiondevice 960. Decryption device 960 may be permanently part of televisionreceiver 900 or may be configured to be inserted and removed fromtelevision receiver 900. In some embodiments, control processor 910-1,tuning management processor 910-2, or other hardware may be able todetermine that a received ECM has not changed from the previousiteration, and therefore not provide the repeated ECM to the smart card,since the same control word(s) will be obtained.

Tuning management processor 910-2 may be in communication with tuners915 and control processor 910-1. Tuning management processor 910-2 maybe configured to receive commands from control processor 910-1. Suchcommands may indicate when to start/stop recording a television channeland/or when to start/stop causing a television channel to be output to atelevision. Tuning management processor 910-2 may control tuners 915.Tuning management processor 910-2 may also control OTA tuner system 951.Tuning management processor 910-2 may provide commands to tuners 915 orOTA tuning system 951 that instruct the tuners which satellite,transponder, antenna, and/or frequency to tune to. From tuners 915,tuning management processor 910-2 may receive transponder streams ofpacketized data. From network interface 920, tuning management processor910-2 may receive network transport stream of packetized data. Aspreviously detailed, some or all of these packets may include a PID thatidentifies the content of the packet.

Tuning management processor 910-2 may be configured to create one ormore PID filters 955 that sort packets received from tuners 915 and/ornetwork interface 920 based on the PIDs. When a tuner is initially tunedto a particular frequency (e.g., to a particular transponder of asatellite), a PID filter may be created based on the PMT data. The PIDcreated, based on the PMT data packets, may be known because it isstored as part of NIT 940 or another table, such as a programassociation table (PAT). From the PMT data packets, PMT may beconstructed by tuning management processor 910-2.

PID filters 955 may be configured to filter data packets based on PIDs.In some embodiments, PID filters 955 are created and executed by tuningmanagement processor 910-2. For each television channel to be output forpresentation or recorded, a separate PID filter may be configured. Inother embodiments, separate hardware may be used to create and executesuch PID filters. Depending on a television channel selected forrecording/viewing, a PID filter may be created to filter: (1) the videopackets associated with the television channel; (2) the audio packetsassociated with the television channel; and (3), if enabled,supplemental audio content for use in conjunction with interactivecontent. PMT 957 may store the particular assignments of PIDs forindividual television channels. For example, if a transponder datastream includes multiple television channels, data packets correspondingto a television channel that is not desired to be stored or displayed bythe user may be ignored by PID filters 955 and not routed todescrambling engine 965, decryption device 960 or control processor910-1. As such, only data packets corresponding to the one or moretelevision channels desired to be stored and/or displayed may befiltered and passed to either descrambling engine 965 or decryptiondevice 960; other data packets may be ignored. For each televisionchannel, a stream of video packets, a stream of audio packets (one orboth of the audio programs), a stream of supplemental audio content,and/or a stream of ECM packets may be present, each stream identified bya PID. In some embodiments, a common ECM stream may be used for multipletelevision channels. Additional data packets corresponding to otherinformation, such as updates to NIT 940, may be appropriately routed byPID filters 955. At a given time, one or multiple PID filters may beexecuted by tuning management processor 910-2.

Descrambling engine 965 may use the control words output by decryptiondevice 960 in order to descramble video and/or audio corresponding totelevision channels for storage and/or presentation. Video and/or audiodata contained in the transponder data stream received by tuners 915 maybe scrambled. Video and/or audio data may be descrambled by descramblingengine 965 using a particular control word. Which control word output bydecryption device 960 to be used for successful descrambling may beindicated by a scramble control identifier present within the datapacket containing the scrambled video or audio. Descrambled video and/oraudio may be output by descrambling engine 965 to storage medium 925 forstorage (in DVR database 945) and/or to decoder module 933 for output toa television or other presentation equipment via television interface935.

For simplicity, television receiver 900 of FIG. 9 has been reduced to ablock diagram; commonly known parts, such as a power supply, have beenomitted. Further, some routing between the various modules of televisionreceiver 900 has been illustrated. Such illustrations are for exemplarypurposes only. The state of two modules not being directly or indirectlyconnected does not indicate the modules cannot communicate. Rather,connections between modules of the television receiver 900 are intendedonly to indicate possible common data routing. It should be understoodthat the modules of television receiver 900 may be combined into a fewernumber of modules or divided into a greater number of modules.

FIG. 10 depicts an example television display environment 1000. Displayenvironment 1000 includes a receiver 1005 that generates a userinterface for output by television 1010. Receiver 1005 includes networkover-the-air (NOA) module 1015, which may provide an interface forreceiving and displaying transport streams from OTA tuner system 1020.

In FIG. 10, television 1010 displays a window 1025 that includes video,such as video corresponding to a television channel received from asatellite or OTA Tuner system 1020. Television 1010 also displays anelectronic program guide (EPG) 1030, which corresponds to channelinformation, timing of programs, and the like, for television programsand channels that may be displayed by receiver 1005 and television 1010.As illustrated, the EPG 1030 identifies a first channel “2009,” whichmay correspond, for example, to a satellite television channel, and asecond channel “OTA-45,” which may correspond, for example, to abroadcast television channel received using OTA tuner system 1020. Itemsin the EPG 1030 may be selectable using a user interface that may makeuse of a remote control or other input device to interact with EPG 1030.As illustrated, indicator 1035 may highlight, as an example program, theWorld Series for immediate display on television 1010, such as in window1025. Other features may also be implemented using the interfacedisplayed, such as selection of recording one or more televisionchannels or programs for storage to a DVR database.

The display interface may also include an network OTA antenna interface1040, which may allow for selection of a network OTA antenna set-up item1045 to command the receiver to configure the NOA module 1015, forexample. As an example, selection of the command to configure the NOAmodule 1015, may generate a “pop-up” window or other interface thatallows for interaction and control over configuration or informationaspects relating to NOA module 1015 and OTA tuner system 1020. In thenetwork OTA antenna configuration interface 1050 that is generated,options 1055 may be selected, activated, changed, or displayed, forexample. Useful options 1055 may include, but are not limited to,viewing or management of a channel line-up, control options for NOAmodule 1015 or OTA tuner system 1020, information relating to or controlover a network address, such as a network address of OTA tuner system1020, and an option for troubleshooting NOA module 1015 or OTA tunersystem 1020.

Also included in network OTA antenna configuration interface 1050 may bean informational item 1060 that may provide useful reception metrics fora particular channel to aid in optimizing a position, orientation, orlocation of OTA tuner system 1020. Informational item may allow forselection of a particular OTA channel or broadcast frequency, selectionof a particular antenna panel included in OTA tuner system 1020, anddisplay of a received signal strength or reception metric that may beupdated in real time. In this way, a user may be able to identify anoptimal antenna position, orientation, or location manually, which mayallow for better overall reception of OTA broadcast signals.

Network OTA antenna configuration interface 1050 may also include anoption 1065 for activating or deactivating the NOA module 1015, such asto add/or remove interface features of receiver 1005 that relate to NOAmodule 1015 and/or OTA tuner system 1020. Network OTA antennaconfiguration interface 1050 may also include an option 1070 foractivating or deactivating other specific features of NOA module 1015and/or OTA tuner system 1020, such as channel scanning feature, aprogram repair feature, etc.

The display interface may also include an OTA signal quality monitoritem 1075 to allow for simultaneous monitoring of a quality metric for aplurality channels and a plurality of antennas in real-time, forexample. As an example, selection of the OTA signal quality monitor item1075 may generate a “pop-up” window or other interface that allows forinteraction and control over configuration or information aspectsrelating to monitoring quality metrics of OTA channels received by OTAtuner system 1020. In the network OTA signal quality interface 1080 thatis generated, channel and antenna combinations 1085 may be selected,activated, changed, or displayed, for example. Graphical indicators 1090of one or more quality metrics may be displayed and updated inreal-time. Textual indicators 1095 of one or more quality metrics may bedisplayed and updated in real-time. In this way, a user may be able viewthe quality metrics and how they are changed as the location ororientation of the OTA tuner system 1020 or an antenna or antenna panelof the OTA tuner system are adjusted in order to optimize the receptionof one or more channels. Advantageously, quality metrics for the samechannel but using different antennas may be displayed to allow fordetermination of which antenna may be best suited for reception of aparticular channel. In FIG. 10, quality metrics for the channel “OTA-4”are shown using both antenna #4 and antenna #1. Advantageously, qualitymetrics for different channels using the same antenna may be displayedto allow for determination of which channels may be best received by aparticular antenna. In FIG. 10, quality metrics for the channel “OTA-45”and “OTA-4” are both shown using antenna #4.

FIG. 11 provides an overview of an exemplary method 1100 for operating areceiver of some embodiments. At block 1105, the method includesdisplaying a user interface including an item corresponding to anover-the-air television channel or a television program received by wayof an over-the-air broadcast.

At block 1110, a command is received to obtain a network transportstream for an over-the-air broadcast. For example, the command maycorrespond to user input received by way of a remote control or otherinput device. The command may correspond, for example, selection of theitem included in the user interface corresponding to the over-the-airtelevision channel.

At block 1115, a network connection is established between the receiverand a network antenna system. The network connection may be or include awired or wireless network connection. In some embodiments, a combinationof wired and wireless networks are used to establish the connectionbetween the receiver and the network antenna system.

At block 1120, a query that requests a network transport stream istransmitted to the network antenna system. The query may correspond to arequest for a network transport stream corresponding to or including oneor more over-the-air television channels or programs received by way ofan over-the-air television broadcast. The over-the-air televisionchannels over-the-air television broadcasts may be obtained andmultiplexed by the network antenna system to generate the networktransport stream.

At block 1125, a network transport stream including an over-the-airbroadcast television channel is received. The network transport streammay correspond to one or more television channels or programs. Uponreception, all or portions the network transport stream may be processedfor immediate output, such as by a television or other display device.Optionally, all or portions of the network transport stream may bestored to memory, such as to a DVR database for later selection anddisplay.

A computing device as illustrated in FIG. 12 may be incorporated as partof the previously described computerized devices, such as televisionservice provider system 110, content provider system 111, receiver 150,OTA tuner system 951, etc. FIG. 12 provides a schematic illustration ofone embodiment of a computing device 1200 that may perform various stepsof the methods provided by various embodiments. It should be noted thatFIG. 12 is meant only to provide a generalized illustration of variouscomponents, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. FIG. 12,therefore, broadly illustrates how individual system elements may beimplemented in a relatively separated or relatively more integratedmanner.

The computing device 1200 is shown comprising hardware elements that maybe electrically coupled via a bus 1205 (or may otherwise be incommunication). The hardware elements may include one or more processors1210, including without limitation one or more general-purposeprocessors and/or one or more special-purpose processors (such asdigital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration processors, videodecoders, and/or the like); one or more input devices 1215, which mayinclude without limitation a mouse, a touchscreen, keyboard, remotecontrol, and/or the like; and one or more output devices 1220, which mayinclude without limitation a display device, a printer, etc.

The computing device 1200 may further include (and/or be incommunication with) one or more non-transitory storage devices 1225,which may comprise, without limitation, local and/or network accessiblestorage, and/or may include, without limitation, a disk drive, a drivearray, an optical storage device, a solid-state storage device, such asa solid state drive (“SSD”), random access memory (“RAM”), and/or aread-only memory (“ROM”), which may be programmable, flash-updateableand/or the like. Such storage devices may be configured to implement anyappropriate data stores, including without limitation, various filesystems, database structures, and/or the like.

The computing device 1200 might also include a communications subsystem1230, which may include without limitation a modem, a network card(wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, a wirelesscommunication device, and/or a chipset (such as a Bluetooth™ device,BLE, an 802.11 device, an 802.15.4 device, a WiFi device, a WiMaxdevice, cellular communication device, etc.), a G.hn device, and/or thelike. The communications subsystem 1230 may permit data to be exchangedwith a network (such as the network described below, to name oneexample), other computer systems, and/or any other devices describedherein. In many embodiments, the computing device 1200 will furthercomprise a working memory 1235, which may include a RAM or ROM device,as described above.

The computing device 1200 also may comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within the working memory 1235, including anoperating system 1240, device drivers, executable libraries, and/orother code, such as one or more application programs 1245, which maycomprise computer programs provided by various embodiments, and/or maybe designed to implement methods, and/or configure systems, provided byother embodiments, as described herein. Merely by way of example, one ormore procedures described with respect to the method(s) discussed abovemight be implemented as code and/or instructions executable by acomputer (and/or a processor within a computer); in an aspect, then,such code and/or instructions may be used to configure and/or adapt ageneral purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or moreoperations in accordance with the described methods.

A set of these instructions and/or code might be stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as thenon-transitory storage device(s) 1225 described above. In some cases,the storage medium might be incorporated within a computer system, suchas computing device 1200. In other embodiments, the storage medium mightbe separate from a computer system (e.g., a removable medium, such as acompact disc), and/or provided in an installation package, such that thestorage medium may be used to program, configure, and/or adapt a generalpurpose computer with the instructions/code stored thereon. Theseinstructions might take the form of executable code, which is executableby the computing device 1200 and/or might take the form of source and/orinstallable code, which, upon compilation and/or installation on thecomputing device 1200 (e.g., using any of a variety of generallyavailable compilers, installation programs, compression/decompressionutilities, etc.), then takes the form of executable code.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantialvariations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. Forexample, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portablesoftware, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection to othercomputing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

As mentioned above, in one aspect, some embodiments may employ acomputing device (such as the computing device 1200) to perform methodsin accordance with various embodiments of the invention. According to aset of embodiments, some or all of the procedures of such methods areperformed by the computing device 1200 in response to processor 1210executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions (which mightbe incorporated into the operating system 1240 and/or other code, suchas an application program 1245) contained in the working memory 1235.Such instructions may be read into the working memory 1235 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as one or more of the non-transitorystorage device(s) 1225. Merely by way of example, execution of thesequences of instructions contained in the working memory 1235 mightcause the processor(s) 1210 to perform one or more procedures of themethods described herein.

The terms “machine-readable medium,” “computer-readable storage medium”and “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, refer to any medium thatparticipates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in aspecific fashion. These mediums may be non-transitory. In an embodimentimplemented using the computing device 1200, various computer-readablemedia might be involved in providing instructions/code to processor(s)1210 for execution and/or might be used to store and/or carry suchinstructions/code. In many implementations, a computer-readable mediumis a physical and/or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take theform of a non-volatile media or volatile media. Non-volatile mediainclude, for example, optical and/or magnetic disks, such as thenon-transitory storage device(s) 1225. Volatile media include, withoutlimitation, dynamic memory, such as the working memory 1235.

Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer-readable mediainclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other opticalmedium, any other physical medium with patterns of marks, a RAM, a PROM,EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any othermedium from which a computer may read instructions and/or code.

Various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s) 1210for execution. Merely by way of example, the instructions may initiallybe carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer.A remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memoryand send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to bereceived and/or executed by the computing device 1200.

The communications subsystem 1230 (and/or components thereof) generallywill receive signals, and the bus 1205 then might carry the signals(and/or the data, instructions, etc. carried by the signals) to theworking memory 1235, from which the processor(s) 1210 retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by the workingmemory 1235 may optionally be stored on a non-transitory storage device1225 either before or after execution by the processor(s) 1210.

It should further be understood that the components of computing device1200 may be distributed across a network. For example, some processingmay be performed in one location using a first processor while otherprocessing may be performed by another processor remote from the firstprocessor. Other components of computing device 1200 may be similarlydistributed. As such, computing device 1200 may be interpreted as adistributed computing system that performs processing in multiplelocations. In some instances, computing device 1200 may be interpretedas a single computing device, such as a distinct laptop, desktopcomputer, or the like, depending on the context.

The methods, systems, and devices discussed above are examples. Variousconfigurations may omit, substitute, or add various method steps orprocedures, or system components as appropriate. For instance, inalternative configurations, the methods may be performed in an orderdifferent from that described, and/or various stages or steps or modulesmay be added, omitted, and/or combined. Also, features described withrespect to certain configurations may be combined in various otherconfigurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations maybe combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves and, thus,many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of thedisclosure or claims.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of example configurations (including implementations).However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details.For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, andtechniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoidobscuring the configurations. This description provides exampleconfigurations only, and does not limit the scope, applicability, orconfigurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of theconfigurations will provide those of skill with an enabling descriptionfor implementing described techniques. Various changes may be made inthe function and arrangement of elements without departing from thespirit or scope of the disclosure.

Also, configurations may be described as a process which is depicted asa flow diagram or block diagram. Although each may describe theoperations as a sequential process, many of the operations may beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be rearranged. A process may have additional steps notincluded in the figure. Furthermore, examples of the methods may beimplemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode,hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. Whenimplemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the programcode or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium such as a storage medium.Processors may perform the described tasks.

Furthermore, the examples described herein may be implemented as logicaloperations in a computing device in a networked computing systemenvironment. The logical operations may be implemented as: (i) asequence of computer implemented instructions, steps, or program modulesrunning on a computing device; and (ii) interconnected logic or hardwaremodules running within a computing device.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for receiving radiofrequency signals,comprising: a plurality of antenna panels, each configured to receive asignal delivered by a same communication network over one of a pluralityof frequency bands utilized by the same communication network, eachantenna panel having a respective antenna characteristic that impactsreceipt of the signal by the antenna panel; one or more processors indata communication with the plurality of antenna panels; and anon-transitory computer readable storage medium in data communicationwith the one or more processors and having, stored thereon: a listidentifying which of the plurality of antenna panels to use forreceiving the signal for each of the plurality of frequency bands, thelist compiled by scanning the signal using each of the plurality ofantenna panels, and identifying a reception metric for the signal oneach of the plurality of frequency bands on each of the plurality ofantenna panels, such that the list indicates which of the plurality ofantenna panels is identified as having a best reception metric for thesignal with respect to each of the plurality of frequency bands; andinstructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causethe one or more processors to perform operations including: receivingidentification of one of the plurality of frequency bands of thecommunication network by a device; querying the list to identify aparticular one of the antenna panels from the plurality of antennapanels for use in receiving the signal over the identified one of theplurality of frequency bands; and directing communicative coupling ofthe particular one of the antenna panels with the device for receipt ofthe signal over the identified one of the plurality of frequency bandsin accordance with the querying.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the oneor more processors to perform operations further comprising: generatinga digital transport stream from the signal, responsive to receiving thesignal by the particular one of the antenna panels; and transmitting thedigital transport stream to the device.
 3. The system of claim 1,further comprising: one or more digital tuners coupled with theplurality of antenna panels to scan over the plurality of frequencybands.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the instructions, when executedby the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors toperform operations further comprising: generating the list in accordancewith using the one or more digital tuners to scan the plurality ofantenna panels over the plurality of frequency bands.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of antenna panels isconfigured to be incorporated with structural elements of a piece offurniture or home furnishing.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein: the atleast one of the plurality of antenna panels comprises a powerconnector; the piece of furniture or home furnishing includes at leastone electronic component coupled with a power source; and the at leastone of the plurality of antenna panels is configured to be incorporatedwith the structural elements of the piece of furniture or homefurnishing such that the power connector is electrically coupled withthe power source.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein at least two of theplurality of antenna panels are incorporated with structural elements ofa same piece of furniture or home furnishing and are arranged to providethe respective antenna characteristics.
 8. The system of claim 1,wherein the plurality of antenna panels comprises at least a firstdirectional antenna having a first absolute directional orientation, anda second directional antenna having a second absolute directionalorientation.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of antennapanels comprises at least a first polarized antenna to receive thesignal in accordance with a first polarization and a second polarizedantenna to receive the signal in accordance with a second polarization.10. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of antennapanels is communicatively coupled with the device via one or more of aWiFi interface, an Ethernet interface, or a powerline network interface.11. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of antennapanels is configured as one of a planar antenna, a directional antenna,an omni-directional antenna, or an amplified antenna.
 12. A methodcomprising: receiving, by a device, identification of one of a pluralityof frequency bands of a communication network corresponding to receiptof a signal; identifying a particular one of a plurality of antennapanels for use in receiving the signal over the identified one of theplurality of frequency bands in accordance with a stored list thatidentifies which of the plurality of antenna panels to use for receivingthe signal for each of the plurality of frequency bands, wherein each ofthe plurality of antenna panels is configured to receive the signaldelivered by a same communication network over one of the plurality offrequency bands utilized by the same communication network, and eachantenna panel has a respective antenna characteristic that impactsreceipt of the signal by the antenna panel, and wherein the list iscompiled by scanning the signal using each of the plurality of antennapanels, and identifying a reception metric for the signal on each of theplurality of frequency bands on each of the plurality of antenna panels,such that the list indicates which of the plurality of antenna panels isidentified as having a best reception metric for the signal with respectto each of the plurality of frequency bands; and directing communicativecoupling of the particular one of the antenna panels with the device forreceipt of the signal over the identified one of the plurality offrequency bands in accordance with the querying.
 13. The method of claim12, further comprising: generating a digital transport stream from thesignal, responsive to receiving the signal by the particular one of theantenna panels; and transmitting the digital transport stream to thedevice.
 14. The method of claim 12, further comprising: compiling thelist by using one or more digital tuners coupled with the plurality ofantenna panels to scan over the plurality of frequency bands.
 15. Themethod of claim 12, wherein at least one of the plurality of antennapanels is configured to be incorporated with structural elements of apiece of furniture or home furnishing.
 16. The method of claim 15,further comprising: the at least one of the plurality of antenna panelscomprises a power connector; the piece of furniture or home furnishingincludes at least one electronic component coupled with a power source;and the at least one of the plurality of antenna panels is configured tobe incorporated with the structural elements of the piece of furnitureor home furnishing such that the power connector is electrically coupledwith the power source.
 17. The method of claim 12, wherein at least twoof the plurality of antenna panels are incorporated with structuralelements of a same piece of furniture or home furnishing and arearranged to provide the respective antenna characteristics.
 18. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the plurality of antenna panels comprises atleast a first directional antenna having a first absolute directionalorientation, and a second directional antenna having a second absolutedirectional orientation.
 19. The method of claim 12, wherein theplurality of antenna panels comprises at least a first polarized antennato receive the signal in accordance with a first polarization and asecond polarized antenna to receive the signal in accordance with asecond polarization.
 20. The method of claim 12, wherein each of theplurality of antenna panels is communicatively coupled with the devicevia one or more of a WiFi interface, an Ethernet interface, or apowerline network interface.